Wayne County dentist from Clarks Summit arrested for medicaid fraud

The state attorney general’s office on Tuesday charged a dentist from Clarks Summit who practices in Wayne County with fraudulently billing the medical assistance program for more than $75,000.

James Fruehan, 52, 51 Marshwood Bend, Clarks Summit, would submit claims to the program for procedures that were never performed as well as procedures that were performed by employees who were not certified to do so, according to a criminal complaint.

Over the past six years, dental assistants at Fruehan Family Dentistry in Hamlin would perform teeth cleanings, a procedure they were not certified to perform.

In that time, Fruehan’s practice billed medical assistance for more than $31,000 in teeth cleanings provided by dental assistants.

Fruehan also claimed a combined $43,000 from medical assistance for sealants that were either performed by employees who did not have the proper certification or added the procedure to patients’ charts without ever performing them, according to the state attorney general’s office.

Fruehan was arraigned Tuesday on one count of Medicaid fraud and one count of theft by deception and then waived his preliminary hearing.

He was released on $20,000 unsecured bail.

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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